The invention relates to a method of generating a random number based on the reception of a radio signal, and to a device for generating a random number from a radio signal supplied by a radio receiver.
The invention also relates to telephone equipment, notably a cordless telephone, comprising means for generating a random number in accordance with such a method.
German patent application DE 42 13 988 A1 filed on Apr. 29, 1992 describes a method of generating a random number from the amplitude of ambient radio noise. The amplitude of the signal received is supplied to an A/D converter and then to a comparator which supplies a binary value. Several binary values thus obtained are subsequently arranged to form a random number.
This method is relatively costly and complex because an A/D converter has to be used.